By Brent Reser

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Tag Archives: The Purge: Anarchy

On Friday Sidney and I went to the midnight showing of “The Purge: Anarchy” at the Broadway at the Beach movie theater. Before I talk about a certain issue in our theater let me first briefly discuss the film.

To those not in the know, “The Purge: Anarchy” is the sequel to “The Purge.” These movies depict a future America with a new government that sanctions one night each year where murder is legal. It is basically the biggest “holiday” on the calendar and is credited for bringing crime to an all-time historical low in the country. Although the second Purge movie is a sequel, nothing other than the concept of the Purge night is related to the first one.

I enjoyed the film on Friday. It is definitely not for everyone though. I get a rush out of the spooky/odd images, I find the concept of the Purge fascinating, and I am intrigued by the social economics of such an event. The second film dives much more into the class system and the resulting negative ramifications that the Purge creates. The second film also packs a lot of action, twists and turns, and jump out of your seat type moments. Though you don’t necessarily need to get your butt to the theater and watch this film ASAP I would say that if you liked “The Purge” you will definitely like “The Purge: Anarchy.”

Our movie tickets for “The Purge: Anarchy” on Friday night.

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On to the issue I mentioned above. I can usually effectively block things out that might hinder my enjoyment of something and I think that is why I still enjoyed myself on Friday night. You see, I had never watched a movie with a ruder audience than the one I found myself sitting with during “The Purge: Anarchy.” From the start of the previews to the end credits it was as if everyone thought the audience was there to hear their special commentary rather than watch the featured film.

You can chalk some of it up to us watching a movie at midnight at a theater in a district of Myrtle Beach that is home to the coolest bars and clubs in town. Judging by the antics of most people around us, they more than likely had a few strong ones before entering the theater. But I am not about to excuse the behavior all on the possibility of alcohol and who knows what else. Rather, I think just a lot of immaturity, heightened sense of self, and lack of courtesy contributed mightily to the amateur comedy hour.

People all around us yelled, heckled, and laughed (it was a thriller/horror movie) the whole time. If they had something to say instead of just bothering the person next to them they decided to announce it to the whole auditorium. Besides other things, right off the top of my head I recall people hollering “Kill that B@#$% too,” “SHOOT HIM UP,” and “That dumb@$$ deserves to die!” Like I said, these comments never let up. I will give it to a very select few in the audience, their comments were witty, almost as if they had already seen the movie beforehand and then wrote jokes for their return trip to the midnight showing. However, I don’t care if what they have to say is Jimmy Kimmel type material, I don’t want audience participation during my movie.

I won’t get too worked up about this though. Very rarely does this happen when I venture to the theater. In fact, I guess every once in a blue moon you should expect a bad crowd when going to the movies. I mean l have to be honest, I have sat with bad crowds at sporting events, public ceremonies, and even church. It is just something that you have to block out when faced with. No more midnight movies for me. Don’t Blink.